Bijan Omrani, historian

The remote and mountainous region dividing Pakistan's lawless tribal lands from Afghanistan's battlegrounds is where 24 Pakistani troops were killed last month when NATO helicopters attacked their outposts. Bijan Omrani, an historian who specialises in the history of Afghanistan and Central Asia, points out that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been a flashpoint of conflict for centuries.

A graduate of Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University, he was a journalist in New York for ten years before joining FRANCE 24 in 2009. He is specialised in French politics, Africa and the Middle East.

ANNETTE YOUNGPresenter

Originally from Australia, she is a senior journalist and presenter who has reported from Europe, Asia and the Middle East. When not fronting the network’s show on women’s issues, she is a news anchor and an international affairs commentator.

DOUGLAS HERBERTInternational Affairs Editor

This native New Yorker joined FRANCE 24 at its launch in 2006, lured by a lifelong love of French language and literature. He began his journalism career in the early 1990s in Russia and is now a foreign affairs commentator.

ARMEN GEORGIANForeign Affairs Analyst

Since he joined FRANCE 24 in 2006, he has reported on major political stories from Berlin, Moscow and New York. He has an interest in the ex-Soviet sphere and has filed feature stories from that area.